My ad hoc attempt to document the visual arts around the Geelong region

27 August, 201127 August, 2011

Metalsmith Mary Hackett at Redox Jewellery Market

The innovative work of metalsmith Mary Hackett will be displayed at the Redox Jewellery Market held in the Art@Wintergarden Gallery on Sunday 28th August 2011.

In this exhibition Hackett’s work examines the language of the hand and the relationship between the maker and the recipient of an artefact. Hackett’s passion for her craft is associated with the physicality of the making and the philosophy of the handmade. It reflects her ongoing discussion about the art of making and its connection to our humanity.

Photo by Jeremy Dillon. Image courtesy Redox Jewellery Studio.

“Artefacts and tools are a significant part of the life of being human. We can define our humanness by our ability to use and make tools,” Hackett says. “Also, being human, we are unique in the dexterity of our hands and the complexity of our language system. It is not hard to see the connection with our use of artefacts and tools, to our hand skills and our use of language.”

Image courtesy Redox Jewellery Studio.

Mary Hackett was born in Tasmania. She studied at the University of Tasmania where she completed a BVA (metalsmithing). Hackett lives in Melbourne with her family and manages NMH Metalworks with her husband Nick. Recently she completed an Advanced Diploma in Engineering (Jewellery) which reawakened a long held love of raising and forging. She is currently a Master of Fine Art candidate at RMIT University, Melbourne. Hackett is a founding member and co-ordinator of Blacksmith Doris, a group dedicated to sharing blacksmithing with women.

Image courtesy Redox Jewellery Studio.

This year, Hackett recently exhibited work in the ‘Lend Me Your Ears’ exhibition at Mailbox in Melbourne. She also has a piece, Tablecloth, currently on display in the ‘Love Lace’ exhibition which is showing at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.

The Redox Jewellery Market is held every two months and features the work of 11 regional contemporary jewellers and metalsmiths. The market has ten stalls and one informal exhibition space, upstairs in the ‘art@wintergarden’ gallery. If you miss this one, the next one is 23 October 2011.